“I'm open to listening” - ‘Buchecha’ willing to fight for world title if ONE Championship thinks he’s ready

ONE heavyweight grappling phenom and jiu-jitsu legend Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida is on a steady rise in the heavyweight ranks of ONE Championship. His otherworldly grappling prowess, coupled with his developing MMA and striking arsenal, has proven too much for his opponents inside the circle.

Now enjoying a 3-fight unblemished pro record, the 17-time BJJ world champion is ready to take on all comers. Almeida is worlds away from everyone else when it comes to grappling. When it comes to his stand-up skills, the Brazilian has been quite diligent at learning the nuances of Muay Thai and shoot boxing.

Because of how dominant he's been in all of his matches in ONE so far, there are talks of perhaps already giving him a world title shot. Speaking to South China Morning Post (SCMP) MMA, Almeida addressed this possibility and said:

"ONE Championship and Chatri, and my coaches will know when is the right time. So for sure is not yet. I just had three fights but I'm listening. I'm open to listening, and when they say it's time, I'll do that for sure. And that's it."

Humble words from a man who can strangle anybody in both MMA and jiu-jitsu, no problem. By comparison, other world champions from other combat sports have tried their hand at MMA, but not many have achieved the kind of dominant success 'Buchecha' has.

Although he only has three fights on his record, considering how he steamrolled all his opponents, it wouldn't be surprising if Almeida gets a shot at gold sooner rather than later.

---

Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida thinks ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar "has good wrestling"

Speaking to ONE Championship, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida expressed his thoughts on the two kings ruling his division, ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar and interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

Looking at both men's grappling and wrestling, the 17-time submission grappling world champion said:

"Man, it's hard to say because I didn't see much. I think I saw more Arjan fights, because of when he used to fight in the old events. So I didn't see much of Anatoly's wrestling, but what I see is that Arjan is really good and I know he used to train at AKA. I know he has really good wrestling but to be honest, I never really followed too much, just the wrestling career itself for both of them."

It would surely be interesting to see how 'Buchecha' deals with each world champion's game. Malykhin has knockout power in both hands, preferring to use wrestling in reverse to keep the fight standing. Bhullar, a former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, has a more well-rounded approach and can be competitive anywhere the fight goes.